Prudential Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) by 97.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 680,217 shares of the medical technology company’s stock after buying an additional 335,430 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Medtronic worth $54,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Medtronic during the 4th quarter valued at $852,732,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Medtronic by 436.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,343,385 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $661,125,000 after purchasing an additional 5,975,110 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Medtronic by 2,043.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,598,150 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $207,540,000 after buying an additional 2,476,935 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Medtronic by 65.0% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,546,819 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $406,122,000 after buying an additional 1,790,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Medtronic by 117.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,102,605 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $248,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 9,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $792,038.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,273,330.28. This represents a 19.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MDT. Citigroup raised Medtronic from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $92.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on Medtronic from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Medtronic has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.07.

Medtronic Stock Performance

MDT stock opened at $90.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $115.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.05. Medtronic plc has a fifty-two week low of $75.96 and a fifty-two week high of $96.25.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The medical technology company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The business had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.33 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Medtronic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.11%.

About Medtronic

Medtronic plc develops, manufactures, and sells device-based medical therapies to healthcare systems, physicians, clinicians, and patients worldwide. Its Cardiovascular Portfolio segment offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; cardiac ablation products; insertable cardiac monitor systems; TYRX products; and remote monitoring and patient-centered software.